Chapter 104: Came and Gone
"What on earth is 'time' doing??" Lily whined. "It always move faster at the wrong time."
"Yeah, 'time' never do the right thing at the right time." Stefanie joked. Both girls were preparing for the New Year Eve dinner and countdown at the Great Hall.
"When was the last time we owled Bell??"
"Christmas day. Remember we owled her the present??"
"Oh, it felt like last year." Lily sighed. "I think I'm already starting to miss Hogwarts."
"I know what you mean 'coz I'm felling the same way too." Stefanie was brushing her dark brown hair in front of the mirror.
"The break seems to flew faster than we wanted it to." Lily sighed.
"In less than a year's time, we will never be seeing the Gryffindor dormitories in this way."
"Unless you return to be a Professor or something."
"Or another Pomfrey."
"Or perhaps another Filch." Lily joked and both girls laughed. The thought of having any of their friends that resembled their caretaker was hilarious.
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"Look, I've got this brilliant idea for our end-of-year prank this year." James was attempting to brush his hair, once again, while an idea flashed across his ingenious mind.
"Tell us about it." Remus raised his brows. Currently they were too busy with the N.E.W.T.S and school events to remember about pranks.
"Done." Sirius soundproofed their dormitory and they gathered together, the way they always did when they were coming up with some prank idea.
James whispered to the group about his idea and they looked at one another, grinning widely.
"That's absolutely brilliant." Sirius exclaimed. "I thought only I can come up with an idea like that."
"Then you're absolutely wrong because I always come up with better ideas than you." James smirked a little.
"Ok, this sounds rather challenging since we never done something remotely like this before." Remus was deep in thought.
"Head Boy coming up with such an idea, what is the earth becoming??" Peter joked.
"Oh Wormtail, I'm a Marauder, and that's why the pranking blood runs in me." James was ecstatic, it had been too long since they last pranked and this was going to be their last year in Hogwarts.
"At least people will remember us in the time to come." Remus laughed. "It's kinda hilarious when you think about it."
"I think it's absolutely wonderful. It will be the talk of the century." Sirius was hopping around like a wild rabbit in the dormitory, leaping from bed to bed.
"I don't think anyone will talk about it for that long, perhaps for a decade or so."
"So what are we waiting for?? Let's hit the library." Sirius suggested. "We still have about an hour before dinner starts."
The four guys got ready within a minute and started heading towards the library.
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"No one is around." Lily told Stefanie. The two girls had been knocking at the Marauders' dormitory door for the last five minutes.
"Strange, I thought we agreed to go for dinner together." Stefanie frowned a little.
"We did. I supposed they went without us." Lily suggested, sounding a little tinge of sadness.
"I guess so." Stefanie turned back and both girls started heading down the spiral staircase. "Let's go then."
"How could they go off like that without telling us at least??" Lily frowned a little.
"Unless they're discussing about a prank or something." Stefanie said automatically. "Everyone is excluded in the pranking discussions."
"Perhaps they are discussing somewhere out there." Lily suggested. The Gryffindor common room was emptied, since most students would rather be outdoors than staying at the eerily silent room.
"They would only be at the library if they're doing their pranking activities." Stefanie talked as if she understood the Marauders inside out. "Doing research or something."
"Wow!! How did you know??"
"One is my boyfriend, one is my brother, and the other is my neighbor for years, I supposed I ought to know the Marauders more than I would like to."
"When the Marauders hit the library on unusual days, it usually meant they had something up in their sleeves."
"That's what I'm wondering too." Stefanie spoke her thoughts.
"Let's make a detour to the library." Lily suggested. "If they're not there then we just head down for dinner without them."
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"10..! 9..! 8..! 7..! 6..! 5..! 4..! 3..! 2..! 1..!! Happy New Year!!" Everyone in the Great Hall chorused. Those who remained in Hogwarts were all gathered in the Great Hall.
"Cheers to a wonderful year for all!!" Dumbledore held out his goblet to make a toast.
"Cheers!!" Everyone followed and raised their goblets. The five Hogwarts ghosts, including Peeves, were dancing in mid-air as well. After the toast, everyone returned to their chitchats within their cliques.
"Professor!!" Sirius raised his hand.
"Yes??" Dumbledore raised his brows. Everyone turned to look at what Sirius was up to.
"Can we perform a song??" Sirius asked.
"What??" James and Remus gave Sirius a bewildered look.
"Just sing the song Only You." Sirius told the two surprised guys and stood up on his chair.
"Sure." Dumbledore smiled and started applauding. The other professors and female fans of Marauders started clapping as well.
"Looking from a window above, it's like a story of love." Sirius started and pointed to the starry ceiling. "Can you hear me??" He put his hands by his ear, dancing slightly as he sang. "Came back only yesterday, I'm moving further away, want you near me."
"All I needed was the love you gave." The three guys were now up on their chairs singing and dancing at the same time. "All I needed for another day." Lily and Stefanie started clapping to the rhythm. "And all I ever knew, only you." James pointed to Lily, Remus pointed to Stefanie, while Sirius pointed to the remaining girls.
"Sometimes when I think of your name," Remus looked at Stefanie as he sang, "when it's only a game, and I need you." James and Sirius were humming the tune as he continued singing to Stefanie. "Listen to the words that you say, it's harder to stay, when I see you."
"All I needed was the love you gave." James and Sirius joined Remus as they sang the chorus together. "All I needed for another day. And all I ever knew, only you." The three guys continued dancing on their chairs, capturing the attention of all in the Great Hall.
"This is going to take a long time and I wonder what's mine, can't take no more." James looked at Lily as he sang. "Wonder if you'll understand, it's just the touch of your hand," He bent forward to hold Lily's hand. "Behind a closed door." Remus bent forward and both girls laughed and gotten up on their chairs as well.
"All I needed was the love you gave." All three guys sang while dancing with the two girls. Sirius had went over and gotten McGonagall up to her feet, but not onto her chair. "All I needed for another day." Even McGonagall danced a little and could not help but smiled at the funny gesture. "And all I ever knew, only you." The three guys finished with the words then continued by humming the tune together as they end their dances.
"Thank you!!" The three Marauders bowed at their female dance partners and returned to their seats.
"That was very interesting, indeed." Dumbledore commented. "It's getting late, time for me to retreat." He stood up from his seat. The rest of the professors and students were getting up as well. "Good night." Everyone greeted each other 'good night' and heading back to their respective dormitories.
"You guys sang really well." Lily complimented.
"It was impromptu." James told her. "We just sang on the spot. Padfoot is trying to sabotage us."
"Precisely." Stefanie laughed. "But it was pretty fun, wasn't it??"
"It's fun because you were dancing with me." Remus placed his arm around Stefanie's shoulders.
"Then what about Sirius?? He's dancing with McGonagall." Lily laughed.
"You guys didn't even bother to wait for me. How could you??" Sirius ran up to catch up with the four of them. "So anyway, was that fun??"
"To answer your first statement, you were surrounded by girls who requested you to sing to them, so we decided to leave you to enjoy the luxury." James told him. "Secondly, it was fun, but a warning beforehand would be very much appreciated."
"Don't you think we always do better in this manner??" Sirius defended.
"Don't think we don't know you want to dance with McGonagall." Stefanie teased. "We knew you've been idolizing her ever since first year."
"You must kidding, she's old enough to be mum. Besides if I chose any other girls, it would be unfair to the rest of my admirers. If I dance with McGonagall, it would save everyone the trouble."
"It would save us a lot of trouble if you didn't initiate that." Remus grinned. "We were all enjoying our dinner while your ridiculous idea hit your head."
"That's the grand finale." Sirius told them in his reasonable way. "Those fans of ours would regret that they didn't stay back during the break to watch our performance."
"Then you could have done that years ago, maybe they might return on New Year's Eve just to watch you singing solo??"
"Nah, this is better." Sirius waved off Remus teasing remark. "Besides I just had the idea while eating. The song suddenly flashed across my mind."
"Okay, I'm sensing that Sirius might be doing lots of these stuffs throughout the rest of this year." James looked at Sirius suspiciously.
"I'm a good boy. I don't do any of 'these stuffs'." Sirius' most innocent look was plastered across his face, which seemed extremely phony.
"Yeah right, let's wait and see." Remus gave his buddy a pat on his back. "Just wait and see."
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"Aww, I really miss those times." The five of them traveled through time using Remus' power back to the past. They were hiding at the corner of the Great Hall behind the pillars to see themselves being sorted for the first day of school six years ago.
"Black, Sirius." Professor McGonagall's voice seemed to echo in the Great Hall.
"I didn't know I look that good when I was eleven." Sirius told them which earned a little punch from four different hands. "Ouch."
"Black, Stefanie."
"I look so stupid." Stefanie commented, looking at her eleven-year-old self, going up to take a seat under the Sorting Hat.
"You look beautiful, as always." Remus told her and planted a kiss on her cheek.
"Evans, Lily."
"I think I look so different."
"You're so much prettier now than before." James said frankly.
"Thank you very much but I really don't need to be reminded that I looked ugly back then."
"Figg, Arabella."
"Look, that's Bell." Sirius commented.
"We know."
"Lupin, Remus."
"You look so cute." Stefanie said.
"I'm always cute." Remus said in a teasing egoistic tone.
"Potter, James."
"I think I look different." James looked at the eleven-year-old boy, which was his past.
"You changed quite a fair bit in terms of looks as well." Lily told him.
"Let's get moving. That's the end of this part of the show." Remus held up his hands and the five were connected together once again. Eyes closed, swift movements, and the next thing they knew was that they were standing on their feet again.
"Oh my gosh!! I've forgotten all about the rabbit prank!!" Lily exclaimed. The group had traveled slightly back to reminisce about the past six years that they had spent together as friends.
"How could you??" James told her. "It was so significant."
"If you considered that significant, then you must have missed out many more stuffs." Lily grinned. The rabbit prank was just one of their many little jokes throughout the whole school years. Several rabbits were hopping in front of them, as if they could sense their strange presence.
"Look!! That's us over there." Sirius pointed to the group of their younger selves at some distance away.
"Haha, we seemed to be playing quite happily with the rabbits – transfigured rabbits." Stefanie laughed slightly. The sight in front was supposed to be hilarious but they were feeling far too nostalgia to really laugh heartily.
"Oooh, more rabbits coming this way." Remus jumped back before something in their past touch him. "Let's proceed on." He grabbed Stefanie and James' hand, which was closest to him and they formed the circle again.
"When was this??" Lily asked. They were looking at a rather chaotic group of students who seemed to be heading back to their dormitory, on their first day of school or something.
"It's on our first day of school when we were in second year." Remus told them. "Remember the Lockhart twins??"
"Where are we??" Sirius was tiptoeing to look at the crowd of students who were congregated at the exit of the Great Hall, excitedly chattering about returning back to school.
"I think we were rather short back then. All the seniors are blocking us." Stefanie told him.
"I won't leave until I see myself." Sirius said without tearing his eyes away from the crowd.
"That sounds so narcissistic of you." James laughed.
"Thanks for reminding about my cousin." Sirius said sarcastically.
"At least there is some resemblance."
"Oh, don't remind me." Sirius finally turned back. "I give up. Let's move on."
"There we are." Stefanie was pointing at some students excitedly.
"Oh!! Isn't that us??" All five turned to look at the direction Stefanie was pointing.
"I think we stay here long enough. Let's go." With one last look at the group of young second-years, they held hands and closed their eyes again.
"This was the day where you guys won the quidditch match!!" Stefanie said with a jolt of recognition at the guys who were in a quidditch match. The group of them was slightly away from the pitch itself, but nevertheless, there was quite a good view without looking too conspicuous.
"You've got that right." Remus smiled. "We just got into the team that year, but the girls – ouch!!" Stefanie gave Remus a smack on his head. "What's that for??"
"You don't really need to remind us about you guys getting in but we didn't." Lily laughed at Remus and Stefanie who were attempting to hit one another lovingly.
"I think it's going to be another – say three hours – before this match ends." James said, shading his eyes a little as he looked up at the group of quidditch players who were flying at the pitch.
"Yeah. I think we can move on now." The group held hands again and started spinning to the next time frame.